Wynn plans to move $28 million Popeye statue from Las Vegas to Boston

Jeff Koons' statue of Popeye has been on display since July at the Esplanade at Wynn Las Vegas.

Jeff Koons' statue of Popeye has been on display since July at the Esplanade at Wynn Las Vegas. (Wynn Las Vegas)

Susan Stapleton

Steve Wynn bought Popeye for $28 million and now wants to bring the artwork to a planned casino near Boston.

In a few years, a piece of pop culture will say bye-bye Las Vegas and hello Boston.

The statue of Popeye by artist Jeff Koons will move from its current spot at the Esplanade at Wynn Las Vegas to a planned hotel-casino in Everett, Mass., outside Boston.

Wynn's East Coast casino designs are still in the works, the Boston Globe reports. But when the new resort opens in 2017, Popeye will be the kitschy lobby greeter.

The neon-bright sculpture stands 6 feet, 5 inches tall and bears Koons' bubble-pop style (think of his Balloon Dog). When the statue leaves Las Vegas, it's going to take a few Popeyes to move the 2,000-pound artwork made from mirror-polished stainless steel.

Wynn bought the the statue at auction last May for $28 million, and it went on display at the resort in July. It's one of three versions Koons created of the cartoon "sailor man" character with his trademark can of spinach.

In the run-up to the auction, an art expert at Sotheby's called it "one of the great sculptures that nobody knows."